how she knows

How she knows she is not useless yet:
Old cornstalks must be shattered right
Where they stood green, to feed worms

She knows are waiting in darkness.
Her hens wait too, for water, for feed,
Especially for deadnettles, nipplewort,

Kale and comfrey. Some hummingbirds
Now arriving check the lilac for their
Own nectar bottle that hung there
While last spring, summer and fall
Slipped past. There are wasp queens

She finds sleeping in her woodpile;
Her heart skips a beat as she sees
Each one, for she fears them, yet

Interests herself in their rest and
Safety, for the good they do her garden.

Now she mucks out her barn, for
Of her things she values rich mulch, almost
To distraction, most. But slowly;

Under beams and eaves hang cobwebs,
Sacs of eggs suspended in each, waiting
End of winter, not to be disturbed.
Lest she forget to serve all equitably,
Every bucket of soiled barn water
She carries to her trees to tip out:
Something to stave off drought.

Yes, she's earned the right, she thinks,
Even in this so solitary place,
To call herself an asset to her friends.

-- shonin #poetry #acrostic #gardening #homesteading

> Homesteading offers independence from the uncertainty of American life, but few people actually make the switch https://irjci.blogspot.com/2026/05/homesteading-offers-independence-from.html

Article caught my eye in part because I had a student last month researching homesteading. They could have used this back then.

#ReferenceDesk #homesteading #rural #OffTheGrid #ThisIsAmerica

Wistfully dreaming about hoesteading with my moots on 243 acres of sub money

#findom #femdom #homesteading #sexwork

I made a grazing bed for the chickens. Grass and dandelions dug up with the sod and roots and transported to the pen. They love it. Now if I can remember to water it until the roots take hold... I want to make another couple as well. I have dreams of a shady green pen for them. There is a plum tree and sprouts all over, a maple, and a spirea shrub all for shade and "hidey" cover. Now I want to get some things growing for them to graze on that they can't wreck.

#homesteading #chickens #garden

Bunch more stuff sown in the garden.

First a row of carrots, with some radishes at the end as I ran out of carrot seed.

Then I turned some more of the former goat pen #2 into a row of beetroots and a series of pumpkin mounds, with alternating butternut squash and Hokkaido seeds.

Everything fertilized with our own compost and a little wood ash for the pumpkins.

Weather frogs are croaking about a first thunderstorm with rain tomorrow night, which we could definitely use.

#Homestead #Gardening #Soil #Seeds #Homesteading

On 5/25 101 Self – Sufficiency Tips by Sheri Ann Richerson goes live on Amazon there will be a pre-order available on kindle soon

https://midnight-publishing.org/2026/05/01/on-5-25-101-self-sufficiency-tips-by-sheri-ann-richerson-goes-live-on-amazon-there-will-be-a-pre-order-available-on-kindle-soon/

The thought process of what is behind designing our #farm. What we hope to achieve and the principles implied.

https://loopfarmstead.com/anti-capitalist-articles/081-100-building-alternatives/100-loop-farmstead-model-case-study.html

#solarpunk #gardening #FarmingLife #homesteading